Day 12 of Monthly Meal Plan

Last week was our first week back to the full school routine, and I wasn't sure if the January Meal Plan was going to be stressful or a relief.  It turned out to be a relief.  I wasn't burdened with not having the right meat or veggie to complete a meal, nor was I stumped trying to decide what to make.  On the contrary, I made good use of small pockets of time here and there to prepare the ingredients that I would finally assemble at the end of the day.

What ended up being a tremendous help is my rice cooker with timer.  I set it up with rice and it was ready at dinner time.  I used the crock pot a lot, too, and I even prepared the Musa'ka like I normally would (all parts separate) but assembled it into the slow cooker and turned it on before leaving the house for the afternoon.  It was warm and bubbly for dinner, and the rice cooked on the timer and was ready too.

A huge bonus, too, was that my husband was able to take lunch to work from our leftovers.  He was very happy about that, and so was I, actually!   

Making the grocery lists was easy this weekend.  I didn't buy anything I didn't need, and I was confident in what the plan was.  Our weekly schedule changed from what I expected it to be, so I won't need Thursdays to be crock pot nights like I thought I would.  Now I'll need Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday to be crock pot nights!  It's been easy to arrange for that, though, because I can also put my oven on a timed bake and have it turn on and off on a timer.  (thank you automation!)

So, all in all, the list is working out well.  I've been going in order, mostly, with just a switcheroo here and there.  When I made the list I didn't pay much attention to the distribution of chicken and beef, but now I see that I have a some days where it is beef, beef, and then beef.  So if I do this for February I will be a little more careful about that.  Also, don't forget that I plan on some type of salad and/or side veggie to go along with the dinners. 

I've enjoyed this experiment, and I hope it's encouraged any of my readers to find a way to simplify their routines or to at least make them easier!